Feeler-motion for looms



I. SNOW.

FEELER'MOTION FOR-LOOMS. APPLICMION HLED JULY 9.1919.

1,378,907. Patented May 24; 1921.

2 SHEE'I S-SHEEI l- Invenfor:

a MW FEELER MOTION FOR-LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9.1919.

Patented May 24,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G b a 1 Z n n a Y Invenfior: I 20 M UNITED STATES PATENT oF 1cs.

1s A A SNOW, OF'LA'WRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, Assrelvon ro nrmrnnooRroRA'rroiv,

or HQPEDAL MASSACHUSETTS, A CORIORA'IION OFIMAINE.

FEELER-MOTION. son LOOMS.

To ail whjom'it-may concern:

Be it known that I, IsAAo SNOW, a citizen.

of the UnitedStates, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essexand'State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Feeler-Motions for Looms, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a speclficatlon,

' like characters onthe drawings representing ticularly the inventionrelates to improvements in feeler motions of the rotary type, such, forinstance, as shown and described in United States patent to ThomasFerguson, N0, l,225,l2O,dated May-8,1917.

Feeler mechanisms of this type, to be ipracticallyefiicient must besu'fliciently sensitive to detect the condition of the filling .in theworking shuttle on each detecting beat of the layandset in operation thetrain of mechanism ;to effect replenishment of fill- "ing only when thatin the shuttle has become nearly exhausted. The} feelermotion of theFerguson patent has satisfactorily operated to this end, but owing 'tothe different kinds orjcharacte'r of filling that maybe employed, itfrequently becomes necessary to adjustthe parts connected to andoperated by the feeler to maintain the sensitive response of the feelerto the kind or-Jcharacter offilling being used. g 7

Animportant featureofi the present in-,

finger, In the practical accomplishment of this feature of theinvention, the feeler may be formed with or have fixed thereto aresettingarm which coacts with fa resetting V cam in'dependentlyof thefinger which sets in operationthe trainof mechanism for replenishingtthe. filling;- lhe finger, which, a

' for identification may be herein-designated the replenishingfing'eeymay be a'djustably r secured to or connected with the feelerseparate from or independent of the resetting arm by means of a collaradjustable both rotatablyand lon itudinally of the feeler.

,Difierent kin of filling may require more or less adjustment: of thespring which nor- Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

feeler showing Patented May 24,1921;

7 Application filed July 9, 1919. Serial No. 309,596.

mally tends to rotatethefeeler and maintain it in rearwardposition, and,at the same tlme, further ad ustment of the replenishing finger may benecessitated to properly'coordinate the parts and maintain the desiredsensitive action of the feeler. Another important feature oftheinvention, therefore, consists in the independence of the spring andreplenishing finger adjustment relative to the resetting arm. i

The above and further novel features and combination of parts will behereinafter described in connection with one good practical form of theinvention, which will then bedefined by the claims a g F lgure 1 1s aperspective view showing 'suflicien't portions of the loom frame, the ilay, and its associated parts, and the feeler, to make clear thecharacteristics of the in- VeIit10I1;' Fig. 2 is an'enlarged detachedview showing the feeler and its operation when a'work- 1ng supply offilling is present in the shuttle on aodetecting'beat,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2. showing the action of thefeeler when the filling has become substantially exhausted; Fig. 4k isan enlarged end view of the engaging end of the feeler;

Fig. 5 ista side view 'ofrthe end of the engaging end. This invention is'Viousl'y, also be employed in connection with some otherrform ofmechanism.

acter, and securedtoth breastbeam 1 is the transverse shaft '2,common infilling rethe curved contour of the more particularly adapted forEuseinan automatic loom," wherein filling replenishment is effected whenthat in th c active shuttle has become nearly or "substantiallyexhausted; but it may, 0b-

plenishing looms, 'andmaybe connectedias -usualto suitable means forcausing. filling; replenishment when said shaft is rocked, all as willbe readily understood bythjose skilled in the arti Secured to thetransverse shaft 2 and extending upwardly therefrom is the usual arm 3having pivotally connected thereto the arm 4 which, for. identification,maybe termed alatch or actuating latch, because by frontward movementthereof the transverse or; change shaft 2 is rocked in opposition to theusual spring means for holding the transverse shaft 2 and its connectedparts in inoperative position. Rearward of the latch 4 is the operatingmember 5 which, as usual, may be either the weft hammer or a partconnected thereto, and adapted to engage the end portion of the latch 4on frontward movement of the operating member to cause the latch to bemoved frontwardly and thereby rockthe transverse or change shaft whenthe end of the latch is permitted to be positionedfor engagement 1 bytheoperating member. Pivotally mounted on asupport 6 at 7 is thetransmitter 8, the end 9 of which underlies the latch 4 and normallymaintains the latch raised or in inoperative position. The other end ofthe transmitter has a shoe 10 which, as will later appear, is moved bythe rotation of the feeler when, on a detecting beat, the filling issubstantially exhausted.

The lay 11 carriesthe usual shuttle-box 12 for receivingthe shuttle 13which may be of usual or appropriate construction. I The front wall ofthe shuttle-box is provided with a slot 14, and'similarlythe adjacentWall of the shuttle is provided'with a slot 15, said slots coincidingwhen the shuttle is received into the detecting box at the detectingside of the loom.

The feeler of the present invention is of therotary type and is carriedby ayfeeler stand 16 preferably formed by a plate having Tupturned frontand rear ends 17', 18, which constitute front and rear bearings for thefeeler member." The bearings 17 and 18 are provided with a perforationthrough which the feeler member 19 passes and in which the feeler maymove longitudinally and rotatively. it

' The feeler19 maybe variously contrived, but a convenient and goodpractical form of the feeler consists of a light metal cylindrical rodwhich may readily be'passed through the perforations in the front andrear bearings when assembling the parts.

The feeling end of the feeler, as indicated in Figs. 4and 5 is providedwith a series of projections or roughened portions 20 preferablyarranged in a curve, as indicated in Fig. 5, approximating thecylindrical form of the filllng carried by the bobbin 21.

The opposite end portion of the feeler 19 is provided with a'setting arm22 which may be securedto the feeler in appropriate manner, and asindicated is preferably formed integral therewith and b'ent laterally,such construction affording a cheap and simple embodiment of thisfeature of the invention. The feeler stand 16 has a front-' wardlyextending portion which is downturned to constitute a setting cam 23'adapted to be engaged by the setting arm 22when the feeleris, movedrearwardly into feeling position by the means presently to be described.The setting cam 23 has a frontexhaustion of filling.

wardly projecting portion 24 which may secured at 28 to the feelerstand, and the .other end'of which is secured at 29 to the adjustablecollar 25, the construction being such that by proper adjustment of thecol lar 25, the torsional andexpansive force of the spring 27 may beadjusted to suit c011 ditions of use, as 'for instance, when thecharacter of yarn is changed'in the shuttle.

Mounted on the feeler 19 is another-collar 30 which is independent ofthe collar 25 and also independent of the setting arm 22. The collar 30is independently adjustable longitudinally and rotatively relative 'tothe feeler,-and maybe secured in desired adjusted position by suitablemeans such as the s'etscrew 31. Secured to the collar 30 is the finger32 which projects laterally from thecollar, asindicated in Figs. 1' and2. This finger 32 may, for the purposes of identification, be referredto as the replenishing finger, and is preferably 'dow-nturned to providean end portion 33 which normally underlies the step 10 0f thetransmitter 8, as indicated in Fig.1 3

From the construction described it will be apparent that the settingarm-22 which coacts'with the-setting cam23 to restore the feeler to itsprope'rrotative feeler p'osition when it moves rearwardly under theimpulse of its actuating spring, is inde- 'pendent of both the-adjustingmeans for "the springand the replenishingfinger;

In operating upon certain kinds of yarn the tension of the spring 27maybe changed to suit the conditions of yarnbeing treated, and similarlymay the replenishing finger 32 be adjusted independently of both thesetting uarm and, the springtoaccord with the character of fillingbeing} used for the time being in the loom; This independentadjuStability of the several-elements of the feeler' enables thefeelerpto be'adapted ffom time to time for use with difierent'kinds orcharacters of yarn and adaptjsfthe feelerfor general use while at thesame time maintaining the, desired sensitivene'ss of the feeleneithe'rto the presenceor substantial .When avworkingsupply of filling is present in the shuttle on adetecting beat, the engagingend of thefeelersinks into the filling mass, and on further frontward movement of thelay, the 'feeleris moved frontwardly and held from" turning or'rotativemovement by thefilling. When, however, the filling has reachedsubstantial exhaustion on a detecting beat, the feeler is again movedfrontwardly by the frontward push of the surface within the shuttle,thereby moving the setting arm 22 from the to portion of the setting cam23 and permitting the feeler to rotate under the impulse of the spring27. This rotative movement of the feeler, when the filling issubstantially exhausted on a detecting beat, lifts the replenishingfinger 32, which in turn moves the transmitter 8 to move the end of thelatch 4 into the path of movement of the operating member 5 and therebyeffect replenishment of filling. In the present instance of theinvention, the spring 27 is indicated as being both an expansion andtorsional spring to impart longitudinal and rotative movement to thefeeler.

What is claimed is 1. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of afeeler stand having front and rear bearings, a :feeler mounted in saidbearings for rotative and longitudinal movements, a spring normallytending to rotate the feeler andhold it in rearward position, a feelersetting arm extending laterally from the feeler in front of the frontbearing, a setting cam extending frontward from the feeler stand, acollar adjustably connected to the feeler between the two bearings andindependent of the setting arm, and a replenishing finger secured to theadjustable collar.

2. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler standhaving front and rear bearing-s, a feeler mounted in said bearing forIOtative and longitudinal movements, a spring normally tending to rotatethe feeler and hold it in rearward position, means for adjusting theaction ofthe spring, a feeler setting arm held in fixed relation to thefeeler, a setting cam, a 001- lar adjustably secured to the feeler andindependent of the feeler setting arm, and a replenishing finger securedto the adjustable collar.

3. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, alongitudinally movable and rotatable feeler mounted on the stand, aspring normally tending to ISAAC SNOW. V

